The Ivory Enigma
by Rose-Storm28
Summary: Shadow has been keeping a secret. He wasn't the only experiment on board the Ark. There were others, similar to him, but they never made it to Mobius. Until now. After years of suppressing memories, Shadow has finally gotten a stable life for himself, that is until a flux of chaos energy brings back the one person he ever cared for more than his precious Maria. ShadowXOC, Sonamy.
1. Memories

" _I'm going to go there one day"_

" _I promise I will protect you"_

" _It's always seemed so alien to me"_

" _They're coming"_

" _Get Maria and go! I'll hold them off. Doctor's orders!"_

" _You can't do that alone"_

" _I'll be fine. See you on Mobius right?"_

" _I'll find you"_

" _GO!"_

 _Disconnected words and final glances swirled around like a whirlpool as, yet again, he drowned in his past._

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Footsteps slowly sounded from the dark metal hallway behind him. His ear twitched as he registered the shuffling of feet into the room he occupied and a soft, feminine voice whisper his name._

 _He turned his head to the left, not turning to look at the female behind him "You shouldn't be up Fauna"._

 _The female grew more confident and walked up to stand behind him. "Neither should you"._

 _A crimson gaze honed in on his companions reflection on the window; eyes of many hues stared back at him with an eyebrow raised. The male sighed and finally turned to face her, turning his back on the view he was marvelling. "Why are you here, Fauna?"._

 _Fauna shrugged "I couldn't sleep"_

 _The male stiffened slightly though his crimson eyes softened by a fraction "Another vision?"._

 _The girl nodded and lowered herself to the ground, leaning against the wall opposite of the window, letting her multi colored eyes have full access to the view it offered._

 _Her companion sighed before planting himself next to her, his eyes now trained on the girl sat next to him. "What was it about?"._

" _Curious isn't it? Mobius" Rainbow eyes stared out of the window and at the water covered planet that was littered with the bright green of land. "It seems so alien to me, but at the same time, it seems like home"._

 _Blood red eyes appraised her with slight annoyance "Stop avoiding the question. What did you see?"._

 _Fauna sighed and suddenly found the lace on her shoe very interesting "I-I don't know"._

 _The male raised an eyebrow "You don't know?"_

" _It was in snippets. I remember a lot of fire and shouting. People dying and gunshots. And an overwhelming sense of death"._

 _Her voice died in her throat as the vision came back to her. The male next to her shifted closer "You know they're not real. Fauna, so why worry?"_

" _They are real, Shadow! The things I see happen. I've predicted weather, storms that have happened down there" She pointed towards the planet that rotated slowly below them. "You know I have, so saying that won't mean anything"._

 _The males voice steadily grew more stern "I know it won't, Fauna. But losing sleep over it will make things worse and you know that. The doctor has promised that it's only a side effect. It will pass"._

 _Multi coloured eyes ignored the male beside her and looked out towards Mobius, a slight sneer on her face "You talk about the doctor like he's a god. He created us. You can level cities, destroy entire civilizations. I can disrupt an entire planet by changing their weather patterns, drive people insane by forcing myself into their minds. Does that sound like the sort of thing that'll help Maria get better? Because it doesn't to me. You need to understand. We're weapons." The female stood abruptly and walked out the way she came, stopping at the doorway and looked back at him over her shoulder "Now ask yourself this. Shadow, Is that what a god would create?" She left him in darkness._

 _XXXXXXXXXX_

 _Sirens screamed in his ears as smoke filled his nose, he ran down the metal corridors, trying to keep his balance as explosions wracked the structure and tilted his entire world._

 _His body hit the wall as a nearby explosion caught him in the blast. Groaning, he slid down to hit the floor. Those stupid soldiers were on board the Ark and were trying to stop the Doctor and his experiments. That meant him. More importantly, it meant Fauna._

 _He pushed himself up and ran down the halls, his hover shoes allowing him to go at reckless speeds. Until his eyes caught a glimpse of pure white fur. Screeching to a stop, he turned back and sped towards where he saw it. Crimson eyes widened as he took in the figure that laid on the floor. Pristine white fur, darkened by dust, bat wings protruding from just below the shoulder blades, eyes closed and covered by white lids, but he knew that if they were open they'd be a spectrum of colours that shined with curiosity and mischief._

" _Fauna" Shadow ran towards her and pulled the small sheets of metal that covered her off. Lifting her into his arms, he shook her gently. The hybrid groaned as she came around and her eyes fluttered open._

" _That hurt" She murmured, pushing herself into a seating position with his help._

" _What happened?"_

" _Soldiers. They were after Maria, I tried to stop them but….yeah, you get the picture"_

 _Shadow sighed and hung his head, running a hand through his quills. "We need to go" He stood and held a hand out towards her "Are you okay to travel?"._

 _She took his hand and let him pull her to his feet "Of course"._

 _They took off a fast pace, him running, her flying. They followed the sounds of gunfire until they reached a look out point in the Ark. They peered through the large glass window and saw a small blonde haired girl running from men dressed in black._

" _Maria!" They chorused, panic laced in their voices._

 _The pair took off once again in the girls direction._

" _We need a plan!" Shadow called._

" _You get Maria. I'll make a distraction" Fauna called back._

" _Don't blow half the place up again will you?"_

" _No promises"_

 _She flew off in the direction of the men clad head to toe in black and drew their fire towards her. Sparks flew as the wiring of the colony seared with electricity and combusted. Columns of fire made their way towards him like billowing clouds of infernos. They traveled closer towards him, the flames licking their uncomfortably warm tongues at his fur, singing it._

 _XXXXXXXXXX_

 _A bead of sweat trickled down his neck as he stared down the barrel of the gun. The hand that held it shook slightly as the holder aimed it between the hedgehog's eyes. The soldier scowled at Shadow in disgust as he turned his comlink on. "Sir, I've cornered the experiment"._

 _A sharp and cold voice answered on the other side "Which one?"_

" _The male, Sir"_

 _A small noise of approval "And what of the female?"_

 _Shadow's hands fisted at his sides and he made to go forward but the soldier aimed the gun straight at his chest and he froze. A small knot of dread forming in his gut. The soldier smirked slightly at Shadow's anger "We don't know sir. She escaped after the fires started"._

" _No matter. She hasn't got anywhere to go. Good work, Soldier. Now finish the job. Commander out"._

 _The line went dead and static filled the air. The soldier's finger cocked his gun and the click resounded throughout the cold metal room. "Have fun in hell" The soldier sneered before his finger pulled the trigger._

 _Shadow flinched and closed his eyes as the deafening boom ricocheted of the dark walls, coupled with a pained gasp he assumed was his own. He waited and waited but nothing. No pain that exploded through his body. Confused, he opened his eyes and they soon widened upon processing what was before him. A wall of rippling silver energy encased him. And the pure white body that stood before him, arms outstretched._

" _Fauna!" His voice was laced with relief._

 _His crimson eyes landed on the body of the soldier that lay a few feet from the silver orb around him. Shards of silver energy protruded from his body. His heartbeat slowed to normal and he looked at the hybrid that stood motionless in front of him. Her body was tense as her arms were spread out to her sides._

" _Fauna?"_

 _Time seemed to stop as she turned to face him slowly. Her arms lowered as she spun. Blood red eyes saw the splintering hole in the cocoon of energy. His gaze then fell on the wound on her chest, the thick red liquid that trickled from it, staining her clothes. He stared at her, wide-eyed, as her eyes met his, the swirl of vivid colours now tainted with pain._

" _Shadow" She breathed his name softly before her legs gave out on her._

 _His strong arms caught her before she hit the ground and neither of them registered the silver energy dissipate. He knelt down and laid her on his lap. One hand cradled her as the other gently applied pressure to her wound. He understood. Usually her force fields were able to keep out almost anything. Since they were both able to harness some kind of energy. But neither had ever seen a gun before; Fauna did not know how to protect herself against a bullet._

" _Fauna, what were you thinking?" Shadow asked "Why did you do that?"_

 _Her breathing became laboured as she answered "Because you need to save Maria. You need to get her out"._

 _He shook his head "No! I need to get both of you out of here alive"._

 _A small laugh rose from the injured hybrid. "You're always so serious"._

 _Shadow frowned in confusion. This wasn't about him! She had sacrificed herself for him and now she was dying in his arms! "Just stop talking, Fauna. Save your energy"._

" _No use" She muttered slowly, raising her hand weakly and they both watched as a small, dull stream of silver energy flowed from her hand. Her rainbow eyes moved to meet his "I'm not going to make it"._

" _No. Don't talk like that. What happened to that eternal optimist I used to know? Where's she gone?" He shouted, shaking her slightly._

 _A small smile grew on her face and she turned her head to rest on his shoulder "She's still here. A bit battered and bruised, but here"._

" _What?" She had a gaping hole in her chest, why was she acting as if it was nothing more than a papercut?_

" _I'll see you again, Shadow" She whispered, eyes falling away from his slowly as her eyelids began to close "On Mobius. Like we planned, right?"._

 _He nodded slowly "I'll find you. I promise"._

 _A ghost of a smile appeared on her fatigued face. Her eyes shut and her body went limp in his hold. The small stream of silver energy swirled around them both before it slowly disappeared from his sight._

 _He didn't know how long he sat there for, staring at her body, minutes? It could have been hours. But he was past caring. She was gone. She died protecting him. It was his fault. He screwed his eyes shut and leaned down to press his forehead against hers, stubbornly forcing his eyes to dry as he held her to him tightly._

 _XXXXXXXXXX_

"Shadow The Hedgehog, If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times. Let me know if you're going to sleep over"

Crimson eyes snapped open and focused in on the irate tan bat standing above him. Her teal eyes narrowed at him as he stared at her "Honestly, I was this close to kicking your head in!".

He moved his gaze from her and sat up, swinging his legs round the side of the sofa and placing his head in his hands. "Wouldn't have hurt" He muttered, running his large hands through his quills.

Rough raised an eyebrow at him "You okay?"

"Yeah"

"Bad dream?"

"Yeah"

The tan bat moved so she sat next to him and Shadow felt her weight land on the fabric surface. "Do you want to talk about it?

"No"

The bat sighed in annoyance as she leaned against the back of her couch. It appeared that a freshly awoken Shadow was more blunt than a well rested Shadow. Either way, they were annoying. But she couldn't waste time sitting here and scolding him (As much as she would love to); they had a job to do.

Rouge stood up abruptly and quickly crossed the room, snatching her jacket from the single chair where she had disposed of it. "Well, I hope you're still yourself enough to kick some ass".

The ultimate lifeform picked his head up to stare at the bat as she put on her jacket. "What now?".

Teal eyes lit up as a smirk crawled onto her face. Hands found their place on her hips as she spoke "Knuckles sensed a disturbance at the Master Emerald. The team are going to check it out".


	2. A Blast From The Past

**Hey guys! So firstly, I would like to apologize for the lack of activity, I basically dropped off the face of the Earth for two years. Anyway, I would like to thank my readers, however scarce or vast they may be. But that's beside the point, I will try and update more often. Here is chapter 2. Enjoy! Please leave a review!**

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When Knuckles the Echidna woke up that morning there were few things he was expecting: The sun shining brightly, bird song littering the bright green foliage of his home, the island itself still remaining floating. But he was not expecting to arrive at the master emerald shrine to find the large gem glowing as it radiated nothing but the purest of chaos energy. He was also not expecting the unconscious body of a snowy hedgebat that was laying in front of it.

As soon as he saw the body his hero instincts kicked in. He ran towards her and checked for any signs of life. After making sure she was alive and stable, Knuckles immediately contacted Tails, knowing that the young kitsune would know what to do.

When the guardian's ears had heard the familiar sounds of the tornado landing on his island he sighed in relief. The girl was still unconscious and Knuckles had moved her away from the master emerald and had attempted to wake her up, mindful to not cause more damage.

"Yo, Knux! What's up-" It was then that the blue speedster saw the girl on the floor. His mouth closed and his lime gaze switched from the girl to Knuckles a few times before a cocky smirk appeared on his muzzle "Wow, Knuckles. I knew you were desperate for a girl but I didn't think you'd go as far as this".

Knuckles glared at him, "Oh, shut it, Hedgehog. This is serious!"

Sonic nodded, sobering up, "Right, so what happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

Sonic and Knuckles turned their heads to find a small orange fox quickly making his way up the steps to the altar, on his tail were a pink hedgehog and a small cream rabbit.

Knuckles quickly nodded his head in a greeting, stepping back from the girl as Amy and Cream knelt by her, the rabbit checking her pulse. "I woke up this morning and everything was fine until I noticed something was wrong with the master emerald, that's when I called you guys. I finally got up here and I just found her here." The Echidna explained, gesturing to the girl.

"Well, she's alive," Cream concluded, moving her hand from the girl's neck, "She isn't hurt, she just seems to be sleeping."

"Where did she come from?" Tails asked, turning to look at Sonic as he cleared his throat.

"You don't think..?" The Speedster trailed off, knocking his foot against the master emerald.

"Is that even possible?" Amy asked.

Knuckles ran a hand down his face in exasperation, "I've stopped asking myself that question."

Tails frowned, "You think she came from inside the master emerald?"

"Either that or she was trying to steal it before she decided to take a nap in front of it." Sonic offered.

"Wrong winged mammal for that." Knuckles muttered under his breath.

"Point taken, Knuckie." Sonic winked, causing the echidna to blush furiously.

"Guys," Tails began, rolling his eyes at his friends, "can we please get back to the matter at han-"

The fox was cut off as Cream gasped and a hand suddenly gripped his wrist. Snapping his head round, Tails turned to face the girl, now awake and panting heavily. Her nails dug into his wrist while her free hand clutched at her chest.

Sonic reacted first. He grabbed his little brother and pulled him from the girl's grasp, pushing the young kitsune behind him. Amy reacted in kind, pulling Cream from the girl's side and moving her behind her.

The girl's eyes snapped up to him, a curious mixture of pinks, purples, and blues. When her eyes focused on him, they widened, "Shadow?" She asked hesitantly.

Taking a step back, and moving Tails with him, Sonic shook his head, "No." He answered slowly.

The girl blinked rapidly, climbing unsteadily to her feet. She stumbled slightly, prompting Knuckles to take a step forward to try and steady her. "Get back!" She shouted, raising a hand in his direction. The echidna heeded her request, holding his hands up in surrender.

The girl stared about, taking in her surroundings in a panic. She stared at the large glowing green gem in the centre of the altar before turning back to the others, who were watching her apprehensively. "Who are you?" She asked, taking a step back.

Sonic took a slow step towards her, "I'm Sonic," he said, gesturing to himself, "This is Amy, Tails, Knuckles, and that's Cream." he finished, gesturing to them each in turn, the little rabbit offering the girl a wave from behind Amy's legs.

"Where am I?" The girl demanded.

"Angel Island." Knuckles answered.

"Where?"

The echidna frowned, "Angel Island, home of the Master Emerald?" he tried, giving a weak gesture to the giant gem behind him.

The girl's frown only deepened. She took in her surroundings once more, glancing up at the sky through a squint in the sunlight. "What," she hesitated, "What planet is this?"

Tails leaned around his big brother, "This is Mobius. Where are you from?"

But his question fell on deaf ears. The girl's multicoloured eyes had widened, and she stepped back from the altar, running her hands through her quills "No..I can't be!...We...The soldiers...I couldn't."

Sensing the girl's distress, Amy moved towards her, "Hey, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay; we can help you."

The girl glanced up at her, saying nothing and Amy took it as a chance to continue, "What's your name?"

"Fauna."

Amy smiled, holding out a hand, "Well, Fauna, it's nice to meet you." Her smile grew as the hedgebat shook her hand, "Is there anything you can remember about how you got here?"

Fauna frowned, bringing a hand up to her breastbone, "I was shot." She said, carefully watching the confused and astounded faces of the people surrounding her, "I think I died."

Silence settled and the hedgebat watched the group around her cautiously. The silence was broken as Sonic let out a whistle, "Well, that's new."

Tails sighed as he elbowed the speedster in the side before frowning at the hedgebat, "What do you mean you died?"

Fauna shrugged, shaking her head, "I don't know. I remember being shot and dying, and the next thing I know I'm waking up here."

Sonic nodded, scratching his ear thoughtfully, "When you woke up, you called me Shadow. You don't, by any chance, mean a black and red hedgehog that's literally the walking personification of angry and brooding, do you?"

"I heard that, Faker."

Sonic sweatdropped as he turned to face his counterpart, "Hey, Shads!-"

"Shut up!" The ebony hedgehog snapped, lowering his chaos emerald and making his way towards the steps of the altar.

"Okay."

"Who's the new girl?" Rouge asked, drawing everyone's attention to the hedgebat.

Fauna had frozen, staring at Shadow with teary eyes as he reached the base of the steps. Rouge's question had him halt in his steps, moving his gaze to the white hedgebat. As they locked eyes, Shadow's stoic expression fell away and he was left gaping at the girl. He frowned at her as she made her way down the steps, tears falling freely down her face.

Shadow's expression softened as she stopped at the first step, "F-Fauna?"

She nodded, smiling through her tears. "Shadow." She spoke his name with such emotion that he thought he was still dreaming. Suddenly, he was back on the Ark. The two of them huddled together, side by side, staring out the large window and at the planet they both wished to visit. The planet they both stood on now.

Shadow shook himself out of his memories as Fauna reached out to him. This couldn't be true. His expression hardened, and his grip on his chaos emerald tightened.

"Chaos spear!"

The familiar bolts of energy went flying towards the hedgebat, who barely had time to react before a blue blur swooped in pulled her out of the way. The bolts crashed into the steps, spraying chunks of rock everywhere.

Behind Shadow, Sonic reappeared, one arm flung out to the side to protect Fauna. The hedgebat stared at her friend in shock, unwilling to believe that he would willingly hurt her.

"What the hell, Shadow?!" Rouge yelled, glaring at the offending hedgehog.

"What are you thinking?!" Sonic added.

Shadow growled at the two of them, "That is not Fauna!" He shouted, the raw anger in his voice caused Fauna to shrink behind the blue hedgehog further. "The real Fauna went down with the Ark! She's an imposter; one of the Doctor's creations. She has to be. Fauna died in my arms! She-"

"Was shot." Fauna said quietly.

Shadow narrowed his eyes at her, "What did you say?"

Fauna moved out from behind Sonic, walking towards Shadow, calmly. "She was shot. When the soldiers attacked the Ark." Her voice wavered as fresh tears threatened to fall. "She sacrificed herself to save you."

"How do you know that?!" Shadow demanded. He hadn't told anyone about the late Doctor's experiments, about the others, about Fauna. Not even G.U.N. knew about Fauna.

The hedgebat merely smiled at him, pulling the collar of her shirt down to reveal a large, splintering scar that stretched across her chest, exactly where the bullet had struck her fifty years ago aboard the Ark. He glanced at the still-glowing master emerald and realisation struck him. His chaos emerald fell from his hand, but he didn't care. He took the last few steps towards Fauna and threw his arms around her, pulling her to him tightly. She returned the favour, burying her face into the crook of his neck and allowing her tears to fall.

"It really is you, isn't it?" He whispered to her.

She didn't speak, only gave a small sniffle as she nodded into his shoulder.

"But how? You were shot, you died in my arms."

Fauna moved back, still in his embrace. "I don't know, Shadow. I really don't." She sniffed, wiping her tears and grinning up at him. "I just woke up next to the emerald and-"

Shadow shook his head, hugging her to him again, effectively cutting her off. "I don't care; it doesn't matter. I'm just glad you're here."

"Well, this is all delightful," Rouge drawled, leaning on Knuckles' shoulder, "But would you care to introduce us all, Shads?"

Giving a rare, small smile, Shadow released Fauna and turned to his team before gesturing to the hedgebat, "This is Fauna, another one of the late Doctor Robotnik's experiments, and an old friend of mine."

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 **Thank you for reading! Please review, I will answer any requests! xx**


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